India vs England 2008-09 Cricket Series

India England Mohali Test

India clinched the two-Test cricket series against England on Tuesday after Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh batted the visitors out of the contest on the last day of the second match.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni belatedly declared at 251 for seven when Gambhir was dismissed for 97, leaving England an almost impossible target of 403 in less than two sessions.
Gambhir fell three runs short of becoming only the fourth Indian batsman to score centuries in both innings.
England, which lost the opening match by six wickets at Chennai, made 64-1 as the game meandered to a draw.
Opener Alastair Cook (10) was the only Englishman out in the second innings, edging Ishant Sharma to V.V.S Laxman at slip.
Andrew Strauss remained unbeaten on 21 and Ian Bell was not out 24 at stumps.

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 4: India lead by 285 runs at end of fourth day

Dec 22, 2008

Opener Gautam Gambhir (44) and Yuvraj Singh (39) took India to 134 for 4 at the end of the fourth day's play of the second Test against England at Mohali on Monday.
Play was stopped early due to bad light after the umpires offered the light to Gambhir and Yuvraj. With a lead of 285 runs, India still have the upper hand in this Test.
Yuvraj hit five fours and a six in his 40-ball knock of 39 to break the shackles after England dried up the runs.
Earlier, Harbhajan Singh took 4 wickets while Zaheer Khan took 3 as India bowled out England for 302 runs in their first innings.
Harbhajan took his fourth wicket when he had Monty Panesar (5) caught at forward short leg to end the England innings and give India a lead of 151 runs.

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 4: India 453 & 134-4 v England 302

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 3: England stumble at 282 for 6

Dec 21, 2008

England were 282 runs with the loss of six wickets and Flintoff going to pavallion on a last delivery of the Third day play.
Earlier, Flintoff delivered a good partnership( 62) before being caught by Gambhir bowled Amit Mishra.
A century partnership between Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen saved pride for troubled England on day three of the second Test against India.
Earlier, braving India's first innings score of 453, England opener Andrew Strauss (zero) and Ian Bell (one) fell prey with just one run to their cricket, but by lunch the tourists were 57-2 after dense fog delayed the start of play by 1-1/2 hours.
Flintoff was batting on 36 and skipper Kevin Pietersen 111 runs.
Strauss, who became the first England batsman to score centuries in both innings of a Test match on Indian soil in the first Test, was out to the third ball of the day. He was trapped by Zaheer Khan (1-24) declared lbw.

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 3: England 282 for 6 v India 453

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 2: India 453 all out on day two

Dec 20, 2008

Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid shared 314, a record second-wicket stand for India against England, as the hosts made 453 on day two of the final Test.
England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook ended the day without facing a ball due to bad light. Stumps were called with nine overs remaining for the day.
Gautam Gambhir (179) and Rahul Dravid (136) were the highest scorers for India while Andrew Flintoff (3-54) and Graeme Swann (3-122) were the successful bowlers for the visitors.

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 2: India 453 v England 0 for 0

Opener Gautam Gambhir hit his third century in four tests to lead India to 179 for one on the first day of the second and final test against England on Friday.
The in-form Gambhir struck 106 not out and added 173 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid to lift the hosts out of early trouble after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat in overcast conditions.
Dravid shook off his poor form by scoring an unbeaten 65 after explosive opener Virender Sehwag fell to Stuart Broad for a third-ball duck in the morning's second over.
Gambhir struck 12 fours and a straight six against off spinner Graeme Swann, reaching his hundred after tea.
Play was called off with 18 overs remaining because of poor light, which had also delayed the start by 20 minutes.

IND v ENG, 2nd Test, Mohali, Day 1: India 179-1 v England

India is considering pushing out-of-form batsman Rahul Dravid down its batting order for the second Test against an England said eager to strike back in the match starting Friday after losing the series opener.
India staged the biggest successful fourth-innings run chase ever in India - and the fourth biggest anywhere - to beat England by six wickets in the first Test in Chennai, but was under pressure from an out-of-form touring team for much of the contest and is looking to further strengthen its batting order.
Going through the leanest form of his career, Dravid has scored just 320 runs in the past 10 Tests, including a sum of just seven runs from two innings in Chennai.
"We're not really worried about Dravid's form," captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Thursday. "No one can question his talent or determination, it's just a matter of getting some initial runs and he'll get his confidence back."
Dravid is India's second-highest run scorer and features in the select group of batsmen in Test cricket's 10,000-run club.
Dravid's 10,373 runs from 130 Tests is second among Indian batsmen behind Sachin Tendulkar, whose 12,413 runs are the most by anyone in Test history.

The pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium will assist the seam bowlers during the second Test between India and England starting Friday, says chief curator Daljeet Singh.
"In the early hours of the day, the pitch will be helpful for the seam bowlers as ball will swing well. Conditions here are entirely different from Chennai as temperature is low and there are winds blowing in the morning that will provide an ideal condition for swing bowlers," Singh told reporters on Wednesday.
"My only focus is to prepare a result-oriented pitch. Earlier, the ball used to spin well at PCA, but in the last few matches, we have seen spinners facing problem. This time I am expecting the ball to spin well but at the end of the day, but it all depends on the individual capability of any spinner," stated Singh.
Although two wickets have been prepared, Singh maintained that the match will be played on the same strip that was used during India-Australia Test match in October.
"The major problem that we are facing is of drying the pitch because of excessive moisture in the morning air. On the surface, it appears dry and hard but from beneath, it still holds dampness but here our boys are working hard to dry it," said Singh.
He added: "During winters, especially during these months, grass is very dormant and does not come out easily. Therefore, we are making use of ultra-violet fabric that we have imported from Canada, which helps in quick germination of grass,"
Talking about the short time that the PCA had to prepare the pitch, Singh said: "I have no complaint that we got less time for pitch preparation. Look at the curators in Chennai, they got only seven days and did a wonderful job. However, we at PCA got eight days more than those people."

Members of India and England team, under unprecedented security, today arrived at the Chandigarh airport for the second Test match to be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali from Friday.
The visitors team were happy with the security arrangements at the airport and Hotel Taj, where the team is scheduled to stay with the members of the home team.
Their chartered plane from Chennai where they played the first Test, which India won by six wickets, landed at the Chandigarh airport this afternoon. They were then taken straight to Hotel Taj under unprecedented security arrangements.
Sushil Kapoor, a spokesman of the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) quoting England players said the visitors were happy to be back to India and at Mohali to play the two-Test series.

Chennai, Mohali to host Tests

Dec 01, 2008

The two-match Test series between India and England has been rescheduled and would be played at Chennai (December 11-15) and Mohali (December 19-23), the Cricket Board announced.
BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a media release that England have agreed to resume their tour of India that was halted after the first five ODIs were completed following the terror attack in Mumbai.
However, the final word on the tour would be given only after the England and Wales Cricket Board send their security consultant for discussions with the authorities in India.
England were originally scheduled to play the Test matches at Ahmedabad and Mumbai on the same dates before the Mumbai terror attack.